In his closing comments to the Regents, PSAC Chair Jeffrey Lehman
offers the committee's assistance and made a strong point about the
importance of honor in protecting the candidates'
confidentiality.

First, you have asked us for our advice, and we have come here
publicly to give it. We believe that you should follow it. But we
also want you to know that we understand that our role has been
purely advisory. The decision is yours, and if you choose not to
follow our suggestions to the letter, we will all continue to love
this great University.

Second, we would like to be of continuing help to you in whatever
ways we can. We would like to share with you whatever additional
insight we could provide or knowledge we might have accumulated
during our careers---before and during our work in this
committee.

At the same time, we understand that we are under a preliminary
injunction that precludes us from speaking with you outside the
presence of the media, and that precludes us from sharing documents
with you that are not also distributed to the media.

And we will respect that injunction. We will have no private
conversations. But we want you to know that this really does change
the things we might otherwise do.

For, even as we shall respect the court's order, we shall respect
the importance of preserving and protecting the lives of people we
have dealt with in confidence, and thereby maintaining the honor of
the University of Michigan.

We will not bring dishonor to this University by revealing
publicly the private thoughts of a person that were obtained on the
basis of the universal understanding that confidential references are
to be kept confidential.

We will not bring dishonor to the university by giving you
redacted references which, while they may protect the privacy of the
speaker, subject the object of the references to the least reliable
form of commentary---commentary from unidentified sources.

We will not bring dishonor to the University by publicly revealing
the identities of individuals whom we recruited to meet with us via a
promise of confidentiality.

We will help you in any way that we lawfully can, but we will not
bring dishonor to the University of Michigan.